Planning Your CPG Brand’s Social Media Calendar | Part 1

Planning your CPG brand’s social media calendar for a whole year can seem like a daunting task, but we’re going to break it down for you in a quick and painless 4-part series. Get your calendar out and takes notes!

The key here is to remember that the goal is to plan an outline for the whole year. This way everything is already thought out and you’ll just need to create your content when you have more details. A good way to stay on task for this is to create content three month’s worth at a time and schedule using a social media management tool.

First, start with what you know…

Note all the major holidays on the proposed social media calendar

You’ll want to plan some timely content around these holidays. Depending on your brand voice or current campaign, you can create holiday posts that are playful, heartwarming, or serious.

Then, add in fun, lesser-known holidays that can be tied to your brand

There are several fun holiday calendars like this one that can help spark content ideas that are relevant to your CPG food brand. Also, think about ways that your followers can interact with that content. Doing so will boost your engagement numbers and make your brand seem more relatable on social media.

• Pay special attention to holidays in your category of food. Here are some mock examples:
  • Campbells may like to create content around Soup Swap Day.
  • Orville Redenbacher might take the opportunity to promote a giveaway for a free product on National Popcorn day.
  • Totino’s may create a “What Pizza Topping Are You” quiz during National Pizza Week.
• Branch out even more with these ideas and build content around days that may not be directly related to your food category, but are still relevant.
  • You can see how consumers could easily connect the Skittles brand with National Find a Rainbow Day, for example.
  • Take the opportunity to teach consumers about your brand during National Education Day or National Trivia day.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series after Thanksgiving week 2020!

Finally, if you’d like to learn more about how to optimize your CPG brand’s social media content calendar with your marketing plan, we can help! Please reach out to the NewPoint team. If you are interested in more food marketing topics, please visit our Food for Thought page or check out NewPoint’s Patrick Nycz’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.